sharkus

Feel free to point me at specific threads with info, as I know this must have come up before.

I worked full time from April 1994 to April 2003 in the UK, and as such I would have paid into the state pension (National Insurance contributions?), and I'm wonder if it's possible to move whatever I have there over to Canada, as I'm not planning on returning to reside in the UK or anywhere else. If it's possible, what is the process like? some bell dimly ringing about QPRS or something and putting it into an RRSP.

any info / threads / links welcomed. harsh criticism will be rated accordingly

bats

state pension: No. Can't be transferred, non transferable, zippo, zilch, de nada.

sharkus

Oh, well that is somewhat annoying.

Engineer_abroad

You can however apply to HMRC to continue paying voluntary NI contributions (cat 2 I believe). They are not expensive and would ensure you keep putting in the minimum to qualify for the state pension when your time comes. All depends how you feel about giving up what you have already paid in and if you want to keep paying in to get it.

sharkus

It seems I can find out how much my state pension would be, I suspect not a lot, so maybe not worth it. Just seems slightly wrong that I have paid into it in the past, but cannot transfer it over.

Snowy560

Have you requested a pension statement?

I've done this a couple of times. Then you can ring them to discuss (I've also done this):

https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension


S

bats

You can apply for a pension forecast. Ive just done this as I'm one of the group of women who have had our pension delayed by 4 years and maybe i no longer a full pension. It sucks big time as there is no way that I can physically carry on doing my job. I'm already part time and that's hard enough.

sharkus

I've just found the forecast thing, and I'll quite probably give them a ring, once I've found my National Insurance number

Reading more, it seems that you might be able to get the pension paid out overseas, when it's time for it of course, so though I might not be able to bulk transfer it, I might be able to still get it.

It would seem odd that money I paid in to a state pension is just locked away from me.

BristolUK

Remembering that you won't get the annual uprating that is available if you live in the right country.

America is one of the right countries. Canada isn't.

Snowy560

I'm sorry if I'm being thick, but please can you explain this and explain the difference (in this context!) between the US and Canada.
Thank you.

S

BristolUK

I'm afraid I can't other than to say you get your RP uprated if you live in the USA but not if you live in Canada.

There's no sense to it. There are, however, several threads on the injustice of it, hence my pot stirring emoticon.

Snowy560

OK. Thanks. I knew that you didn't get the uprating but I what I didn't know, was that if you lived in the US, then you would do. So I was not expecting an uprating (post getting my pension) but for a minute I thought maybe I was mistaken and I would do but not if I lived in the US (but it's the other way around!).

Thanks. All good. Except no uprating!

S

Steven.Vu

You can find more information on that directly from the gov.uk website. Have a look at their general information section:

https://www.gov.uk/transferring-your-pension/overview

Once you are familiar with the overview, you should have a look at the list of Financial Institutions that are approved to help facilitate your pension scheme transfer to Canada.

https://www.gov.uk/government/public...cations#canada


Hope that's helpful. Goodluck.

sharkus

I did read the bit about the uprating not applying to certain countries. odd why Canada is left out, you'd have thought, being part of the commonwealth it would be.

One positive thing, I have found my NI number

JonboyE

Yes, if you qualify for it then you will get it wherever you live. One thing to watch out for is that the UK keeps changing the rules. At the moment you get 1/30th of the pension for each year you have sufficient NI contributions. I.e. you get a full pension if you have 30 years of NI contributions. There is a good chance that this will change to 40 years and that you will need a minimum of ten years to get anything. Given the work history you listed above making a year or two of voluntary NI contributions could be worth your while.